Utterly ridiculous and lots of fun

Rating: 8/10 (9 December 2013)

There is a lot about this movie that is beyond ridiculous. As others have stated, you have to wonder, when fighting the monsters, why not use the ultra-weapons in the first place rather than duking it out "mano a mano" and then finally pulling out the really powerful weapons, like cannons that blast them to smithereens? And the whole conceit of needing to build giant robots is also ridiculous - why not just go straight to the weapons and deliver them by, say, drone attacks? Let's just say it all starts with suspending disbelief bigtime. But that is not unique to this film, of course; it is a component of all fantasy/sci fi films, so having said that, I will move on to the good points.
Strange to say, while it will not win literary prizes for character development, much less originality, they are strangely affecting and you care what happens to them - a statement I rarely make in connection with big special effects extravaganzas. Idris Elba's charisma and gravitas needs no further comment. And while other characters are "stock" action figures, for some inexplicable reason they all "work" too. When the heroine and the young pilot face off in a martial arts competition, the young woman's frail appearance makes it look like an unfair matchup yet it fits nicely within the Asian tradition of female martial arts stories like "Crouching Tiger." Furthermore as others have noted, there is real chemistry between the two actors. And while I don't want to go overboard on the issue of emotional resonance, the scene in which the heroine (as a child) shrieks and cries amidst devastation caused by the monsters is truly affecting.
As far as science fiction, there are some good sci fi elements; the mind-melding needed to man (or woman) the robots makes for some interesting sci fi as does (SPOILER) the scientists' use of this in attempting to understand the alien attackers. Speaking of which, there is also humor, provided not only by the scientists (who are, however, gross caricatures) but by another caricature played by Ron Perlman of a wheeler-dealer who will sell you anything. Yet despite the humor it doesn't break the overall sense of "serious threat." Of course (SPOILER ALERT) the rules of Hollywood were so clearly in effect in this film that I did not bother to ask "Will the hero survive? Will we (the human race) win against the aliens?" etc. I knew from the start that it would all end well. But I didn't mind. At times it was a bit too much crash/boom and I was distracted by wondering how many gazillions of dollars the incredible CGI effects must've cost. But overall it was a fun way to spend some time if you leave your critical thinking at the door.